Broken
by justanotheranimefreak
Summary: Space. It stretched out endlessly, leaving me adrift in a sea of glimmering stars. It was cold and unfathomable. Notes: Duo POV, AU, some angst, possibly yaoi
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Space. It stretched out endlessly, leaving me adrift in a sea of glimmering stars. It was cold and unfathomable. Suddenly I snorted. Huh, that sounded poetic even for me.

"Status, 02?" The hard, flat voice of my mission partner issued from the system in front of me, making me jump. Oh, drat. I left my comm on _again_?

"Nothing, 01," I called back, rolling my eyes. I was thankful that my screen and his were blank – god forbid the Perfect Soldier realised I was having fun at his expense. He might have a brain aneurysm or something.

There was silence. I grimaced. Oh man, it did not sound like he was in a good mood. Great. I was stuck floating in space attached to the side of an asteroid with a guy whose very soul seemed made out of Gundanium, waiting to ambush a carrier that might not even come near our hideout, and we'd already been here for two days. A guy can get tired of his own company pretty quick out here.

My speakers suddenly hissed with static.

"02?" Ooh. Conversation! And not with Heero!

"Yeah?" I would have smacked myself in the head then if I hadn't been so damn cold (we'd turned off most vital systems to stay better hidden). Way to go genius, a live conversation and you start like that?!

"This is 04," the tinny voice that came through my speakers confirmed. I grinned.

"Woohoo! Way to go, 04!" I chuckled, suddenly starting to warm up through sheer excitement. I began flexing my fingers to try and loosen up, though it was almost a pointless exercise – my gloves were so cold the leather was stiff.

"02, 01 and 03 are listening to this update as well," Quatre continued. I could hear the slight warning in his tone. I shrugged. They couldn't see me, who the hell cared? I was just glad that Quatre had accomplished his part of the mission; now maybe ours would get underway.

"Status?" I sighed as Heero finally entered the conversation, typically cold and focused. Then I brightened. Soon we'd finish what we came out here to do and I could go somewhere warm!

"Mission complete." Huh. So Trowa was with Quatre. I almost laughed – Heero was finally having a conversation with someone who could match him for abruptness. If we left them too long they'd probably start communicating in grunts!

"-2? 02? Come in, 02." Oops. From the sound of his voice, Quatre had been trying to get my attention for a little while.

"Here, captain," I hedged, then grinned as I heard a stifled giggle. In Wing, Heero growled.

"Can we get on with it?" he snarled, and I sighed. Apparently he was still not a happy camper. Though with Heero, it was hard to tell if he ever WAS happy – nothing seemed to affect him except to make him surlier.

"Aye aye," I muttered, flicking several switches in the cockpit. As the huge machine powered up I smiled, feeling suddenly more alert that I had in days. A little rebellious, I also turned off comms. I knew what my part in the plan was and if Heero really needed me that bad he could force a connection from his end.

"Time to go to work, old buddy," I whispered to Deathscythe. I knew he couldn't hear me but he had been the only constant in my life for awhile now, so I talked to him. Sue me.

I felt more than saw Wing getting ready beside me. I knew Heero was itching almost as bad as I was to get this mission completed, even if it was for different reasons. I wanted to get back to someplace warm and sunny; he wanted to get away from me. Oh well. Whatever works, I guess.

Wing suddenly launched off the asteroid, wings out and battle ready. I followed, instinctively switching to stealth mode. Heero would know where I was but it was much better bait for him to be on his own, at least visually. OZ troops wouldn't hesitate to attack a lone Gundam but make it a pair and they'd be running scared. For some reason, none of these soldiers ever realised that even just one of us was deadly all on his own.

While we were moving I wondered briefly how the others were doing. Quatre had sounded fine, and Trowa had been with him so I assumed he was okay too. I wondered if those two had realised why they spent so much time together yet. It was sweet, in an awkward kind of way. I was sure that Quatre at least would be leaning towards saying something; he seemed much more in touch with his feelings. And if I could do it with nothing more than intuition, he should be able to detect Trowa's feelings with that space heart of his.

Wu Fei was another story entirely. There was a kid shut down so tight all he could feel was rage. It seriously creeped me out even just being on the same planet as him. I mean, God, what if he just went crazy and started blowing stuff up for no reason? Of all of us, he was the most likely one to snap. Mind you, I hadn't seen him in about four months so I guess I'd been a bit slack in catching up with him. Who knows? He might have changed.

I shook my head at myself. Nah, no way. Wu Fei was rage; there was no way of separating the two, just as you couldn't separate Heero from his mission. I puzzled over that for a minute or two. Heero was a strange guy, there was no getting around that. So utterly focused, unfeeling and harsh. I knew there'd been some strife in his childhood, that he'd been raised to be a soldier, but the actual events that had shaped him into who he now was were beyond me. Probably for the best though.

"Target confirmed," Heero's voice echoed through my speakers and I sighed.

"Time to meet your makers, boys," I said, ignoring Heero's irritated grunt. Deathscythe was eager for battle, I could feel it in the way he hummed. We hadn't been in a real fight for close to three months now; it had all been ambushes, feints, or escapes. It was almost a relief to get some combat, as weird as that sounds – after all, what else is a Gundam made for but battle?

"Hang back," Heero's curt voice instructed, and I gaped at the console for a minute.

"What? Why?!" I would have cursed at him but unfortunately he seems to be immune to threats. His face on the viewer never changed expression.

"Better tactical advantage," he stated, then switched off visuals. I fumed, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Advantage, huh?" I muttered to myself, watching through the panels at the front of the cockpit. I was furious about being shunted out of the way once again, but I held myself back. Even if he begged, there was no way I was going to save him. Then I had to grin ruefully at myself. Heero would beg me to save him only in my most bizarre fantasies; there was no way in hell the Perfect Soldier could be that human.

"Jerk," I mumbled quietly before shutting up and waiting for my chance to join the fight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Do you know, one of my favourite places on Earth or in space is Hawaii? I kid you not, that place is incredible. Beaches all over, flowery shirts and grass skirts everywhere you look. People are so busy enjoying themselves that they aren't nasty to each other. It seriously is paradise.

Before I'd been to Hawaii, I'd never really been that fond of the ocean. Coming from the colonies, it seemed a bit unnatural at first for so much water to be in one place. Now though, after spending a month or so looking at the beach, I decided to stop being silly and learn to surf.

It took me a few days but eventually I got the knack of standing up on the board. Granted I was still hunched over because it felt like the board was trying to buck me off, but at least it was two points of contact instead of four. I was so impressed the first time I rode a wave into shore that I jumped off the board and ran around like an idiot for five minutes cheering – but no-one cared. In fact, I even had a couple of other guys clap for me too. How great is that?

I suppose you're wondering why I was having a good time in Hawaii instead of assisting the war effort. Answer: Heero had disappeared into the wild blue yonder with Quatre, Wu Fei was hiding on one of the colonies (assumption here, we actually had no idea where he was!) and Trowa was presumed dead. I was a bit upset about that last; I'd really liked that guy. We connected on a level I don't think the others understood. Maybe it was because of our respective pasts, but we recognised each other as kindred spirits and got along pretty well when he wasn't spending time with Quatre.

Anyway, there wasn't all that much to do until OZ stopped holding the colonies hostage. I probably should have been hanging out with Hilde or something while we tried to find a way around the stalemate, but to be completely honest I was almost on the edge of burning out. I needed to find some space to get my head back together before I continued the fight.

I was actually on the beach the first time I heard someone talking about the Sanq Kingdom. It seemed that Relena Peacecraft was amassing her own private army, and that she had a couple of Gundam Pilots in service. I shook my head over that one, I tell you. I mean, we all know that she's obsessed with Heero, right? Problem is, if the guy keeps going and helping her out when she gets cornered, she's never gonna stop stalking him. Am I right or am I right? Thought so.

Anyway, I figured the other pilot had to be Quatre. Couldn't be Wu Fei since the guy is so anti-social it isn't funny, and there was still no word of Trowa – I wondered how Quatre was taking his death. Probably hard. If there's anyone on this Earth destined to be soulmates, it's Quatre and Trowa. They are just perfect together, but...never gonna happen now.

Anyway, it kinda got my curiosity up when I heard that bit of news, so I decided to take a short jaunt over there and see how Heero's security measured up. Kept my head down though; I don't get along well with that guy at the best of times and Deathscythe is a big old target. I went incognito through the forest, clad head to toe in black. And of course I went at night.

Now, sneaking through a forest at night isn't the fun it looks on TV. For starters, it's dark. I don't mean normal dark where if there's a moon you can see pretty well. I mean, DARK. Like, can't see three feet in front of you. Even me, the master of stealth, tripped over his own shoes more than once. And got my foot stuck in a rabbit hole that was hiding under a pile of leaves when I was stepping over a log, which made me fall onto my face. While I was spitting out leaves I recalled fondly that this was my own idea, that no mission was pressing me to go on, and that when or if I finally made it Heero would likely shoot me in the face. Gee. What inspiring thoughts to be having on this venture.

Finally I made it to the edge of the trees, pressing myself up against one to hide myself. I could see at least 3 proximity sensors about 4 meters away and resolved not to go near them if I could help it. Heero had hidden them pretty well, but I was a master at avoiding detection; I knew what those slightly raised mounds of grass meant. But how to get around them?

The sound of a squirrel scratching the truck of the tree made me look up. I smiled. The tree I was leaning against was very sturdy, with thick branches that stretched out over the grass. If I could climb up to one of the higher branches I should be able to swing myself over the sensors and into the main compound. I had no idea how I was going to get out again but I figured I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. Or not; I would probably be running for my life. But hey, that was pretty standard for me since the war started.

Taking a step back into the forest I bent my knees, ready to jump for the lowest branch. And froze when someone touched a gun to the back of my head. Ah. Slight problem. I put my hands up in the air slowly.

"You're getting sloppy," a familiar voice commented, and I sighed.

"Nice to see you too, Heero," I said, turning on the spot to face him. He was as charming as ever; the gun that had previously been aimed at my head was now about an inch away from the bridge of my nose. I nearly went cross-eyed trying to see it. His dark eyes were considering me carefully.

"What are you doing here?" he asked quietly. The gun never wavered; I don't think even an earthquake could have moved him. I shrugged, keeping my hands where they were. He wouldn't trust me to lower them in case I went for my gun. Or knife, depending on how close he got.

"Sightseeing," I told him blithely, prepared for his usual grunt and maybe a kick in the shins. I got neither.

"Why?"

"Um...because I heard the country is real nice up here?" My mouth was running on autopilot now; I was confused. I know I hadn't seen the guy for a couple of months but this was almost like having a normal conversation! I wondered what on earth had happened to him to make him less bloodthirsty.

"I mean, why are you wearing stealth gear?" Oh. That. I'd forgotten about that in the rush of adrenaline that having a gun pointed at me sparked.

"I just came to visit. Old times sake, Heero." It was even true – or mostly true. I had come to visit, just not him. He frowned and put up the gun.

"Keep your hands where they are," he cautioned, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, captain," I muttered. He took a slow step forward and reached for me. I figured he was going for my hands because he wanted to restrain me, so imagine my surprise when he grabbed my braid instead. I hadn't realised it was over my shoulder until that moment.

"Well, this is lovely," I told him as he held my braid, "but unfortunately -" I kicked him in the gut with my left foot and twisted away when he let go momentarily, "- I have another engagement."

As he straightened up from the kick, seemingly not at all injured, I bolted. I tore through the woods like the hounds of hell were behind me, running and praying as I ran that I wouldn't trip or hit anything. It seemed that God was on my side for once since all I got for that mad dash was a couple of twigs caught in my hair. I didn't hear him follow me which was all to the good, since I don't know what I would have done.

After all, how can you kill the Perfect Soldier?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

L3 is a pretty decent colony, I guess. I mean, it's certainly heaps better than the crappy L2 colony I grew up on, but there's lots of places like that. I guess what I mean is that the people here are decent – they wouldn't begrudge a street rat an apple or two if he really needed them. Or at least, that's what it seems like; I could be dead wrong. It's happened before.

Like being trapped on the Lunar Base with Wufei. After Deathscythe got destroyed I went a bit loopy and managed to get my ass hauled into the cells on the Lunar Base, an OZ stronghold. To my surprise Wufei was already there, shackled and meditating as if nothing was wrong in his world. It was creepy to say the least. Seriously, it just seems wrong for a person to be so quiet. It didn't matter in the bigger scheme of things though, because it turns out he has a wicked sense of humour. I know, totally unexpected, right? When we escaped, our new suits were only at half fighting capacity, but he didn't let it worry him - he wanted to pay OZ back before we left and wouldn't take no for an answer. It was awesome.

Anyway, I was on L3 because I had no reason to want to hurry back to Earth. After that incident I had avoided Sanq like the plague, and was now trying my best to stay in space. Yeah, I know, I'm a coward. But I'm betting not many people belt Heero Yuy and live to tell about it, so call it self-preservation.

I was walking around the colony streets with nothing much to do when I suddenly heard a drumroll and the sounds of excited children. It was something I hadn't heard in a long time – people just weren't happy anymore with the war going on – so I stopped and listened, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. After a couple of minutes I felt sure I knew where I was going and strolled casually towards the source, only to see a large circus tent pitched on the artificial grass square. Children were chasing each other round the caravans and animal cages gleefully while their parents looked on fondly, apparently waiting for the show to start. I had to admit, it looked like fun. I hadn't been to a circus ever, so I lined up at the ticket stall just like all the good colony citizens and waited.

About twenty minutes later we were all packed into the big top, squished together on the tiered wooden benches and thoroughly excited. I had managed to get myself wedged between two families with three enthusiastic children each, so I found myself the recipient of more than a few apologies from their embarrassed parents. I laughed, waving the apologies away. It wasn't like the children were annoying me, they were just excited. I could understand that.

I was almost bouncing on the seat along with the children by the time the show started. Excitement is contagious, and the anticipation of a good time was an almost tangible presence throughout the audience. When the ringmaster stepped through an entrance at the back of the ring, everyone cheered, including me. We clapped when he bowed around to the audience, and stamped our feet when he introduced the first act. All the performers smiled widely as they stepped into the ring, and we cheered louder each time than the last.

The last act before half time consisted of a young man dressed in a clown costume who was, apparently, also a lion tamer. The huge cat padded around the ring, snarling at the people in the front row who predictably shrank back and stifled squeals. The man flung up his hand and called the lion; it trotted back to him obediently and sat in front of him. To gasps of awe the man began to guide the lion through tricks, each new one harder than the last. I was dumbfounded as I watched the man's relationship with the cat; it seemed that the man trusted the lion to an unimaginable degree and didn't use a whip or anything to control it, merely asked it to perform. The final touch came when the man set the lion to running around the ring again, then jumped, flipped in the air and landed one-handed on its back.

The audience surged to its feet with a roar, cheering wildly. I stayed sitting, confused. As the pair trotted around the ring again, I narrowed my eyes, trying to see through the bright light. Was that – no, couldn't be – but what if... There was only one person I'd seen move like that in my life – could it possibly, against all odds, be Trowa?

With a final flip and a bow that encompassed the entire audience the man led the lion out of the ring, disappearing from view. The ringmaster announced that it was time for intermission, bowing and exiting as we got to our feet and filed out of the tent. Amidst the press of people I thought hard to myself, trying to decide what to do. Finally, when the crowd thinned around me, I shrugged and headed back towards the caravans behind the tent. Couldn't hurt to check it out, right?

I snuck through the forest of caravans quietly, hoping for a sign that would show me which was Trowa's. As I waited in the shadow of the biggest, I saw the clown hurrying towards the big top, a box in his hands. Props, maybe? I followed him quietly, trying not to draw attention. I was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be here.

As I pushed through the folds of heavy canvass, I caught sight of movement. I ducked down, then, realising that it was just the clown and he had his back to me, I straightened up and walked closer. His movements were incredibly familiar.

"...Trowa?" I said it hesitantly, quietly, but when he whirled to face me I was overjoyed. "Trowa! It is you! What you been up to? Everyone's been worried sick about you!" I would have said more but an angry voice from behind me made me stop in my tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Trowa's eyes were wide and stared over my shoulder as a young woman with curly brown hair walked past me. She glared at me as she put an arm around Trowa's shoulders.

"Go away! We don't want you here! I'm going to keep him safe, so just leave!" Sheesh. Anyone would think I was trying to kidnap him or similar. I have to admit, I was a bit confused though. Why hadn't Trowa said anything yet? I took a closer look at his face, around the woman's arm. His eyes were wide and frightened, his breathing shallow, and his body was poised to run away. I frowned; that wasn't like the Trowa I knew.

I managed to keep my cool, but it was a close thing. I let her chase me out of the tent, instinctively sliding through the camp like a shadow again. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour. Besides, if I got arrested I wouldn't be able to go and see Quatre, and I had a feeling he'd want to know about all this. But how was I going to tell him that Trowa was crazy? I didn't have the faintest idea.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Quatre took the news about Trowa pretty well, which surprised the hell out of me. I mean, it's not every day that you hear that the love of your life you thought you killed has not only come back from the dead but has amnesia and can't remember you at all. Seriously. If it was me, I probably would have had a heart attack. Or at the very least a breakdown involving lots of alcohol and/or ice-cream.

I hadn't really thought about Heero much since I'd found Trowa, but after seeing Quatre I was reminded that he was on the loose again too. Hurrah. Now I had another reason to step twice as careful around OZ – drawing too much attention to myself could end badly if Heero decided it wasn't worth keeping me around. I wasn't expecting to have to work with him again anytime soon though; as far as I knew he was still trying to assassinate Relena, self-proclaimed Queen of everything. I didn't really know why he hadn't done it yet, God knows he'd had plenty of chances. He'd even lived in her castle for awhile, apparently. Talk about a golden opportunity.

An odd thought occurred to me as I piloted my shuttle through empty space – could Heero maybe, possibly, care about Relena? Could that strong core of cold Gundanium be soft and gooey enough to form an attachment to another human being? The very thought made me wince. God, that was so wrong, in every way possible. Just imagining Heero and Relena together that way made me want to hurl. Or was it more like an attachment between a knight and his lady? The woman that he would never get close to but would idolise forever, even throw his life away for? For some reason that thought made me sad, mostly because I had a feeling it was closer to the right answer. I hated admitting it, even to myself, but I worried about the idiot sometimes. Okay, rarely. And usually only when he was very, VERY far away from me.

When I'd left L3 I'd had a vague idea of trying to find Wufei while I was out here, though I'd changed my mind almost immediately. No, that didn't fit in well with my plan of lying low. Wufei was far too aggressive to hide out and make a plan – he was more a point-and-shoot kind of guy. I'd probably spend most of my time trying to avoid him killing me out of sheer boredom. Besides, even if I could find him, chances were good he'd destroy my shuttle on sight, since I'd taken the liberty of helping myself to an unused OZ shuttle that had been kindly left wide open by a neglectful pilot. It was always so nice when the enemy helped out without knowing it.

I programmed a flight path through to L2, taking care to swing wide of a potentially dangerous asteroid field. I intended on getting close enough that I could ditch the distress beacon into the slowly spinning death trap, but I didn't want to get in over my head – this shuttle didn't have nearly enough manoeuvrability to get out of there unscathed, and blowing a hole in the hull was definitely one of my top ways _not_ to go. Ditching the beacon was a good way to convince the officers who had 'lost' the shuttle that it was destroyed, which meant they wouldn't come looking for it. That suited me just fine, seeing as how I was a wanted terrorist and all. Either way, it was still going to be a dangerous process because I had to ensure that the beacon actually impacted one of the asteroids and didn't just float off into the depths of space.

I left my shuttle on autopilot while I suited up, shaking my head at myself. It was a good plan, but there were way too many things that could go wrong – this sort of stuff was usually only successful when you had a partner to back you up. Then I grinned. I was a Gundam Pilot, I didn't need anybody! I just had to make sure my plan was airtight and actually achievable so I didn't screw up too badly.

I sealed off the cockpit and headed to the airlock, doing a last check of my spacesuit. I attached a tether line from me to a small rung on the inside of the door, then grabbed a couple of jump thrusters. I hooked them into my belt. If I got separated from the ship, I would probably be able to get back inside using those. Not that I wanted to be in that situation but you had to be prepared for anything out here, especially if you didn't have anyone to watch your back.

Finally I thought I might be ready and I hit the button to open the door. The air in the small space gushed around me, making me jerk, and I held onto the side of the door for the instant it took for all the air to go. Then I gently let go and pushed off into oblivion.

My tether pulled tight, making me catch my breath. I inhaled deeply as I realised just how close I was to the asteroids, and what a bad idea this was. All it would take was for one of those rocks to cut my tether and I would be done for. I gritted my teeth and got to work, lobbing the beacon into the field.

The laws of physics forced me back towards the shuttle. Equal and opposite reactions, I thought ruefully as I spun on my now loosened tether. I did note with glee that the beacon appeared to have gotten stuck to one of the bigger asteroids, and decided that my job was complete. I turned back to the shuttle -

- which suddenly exploded. I was forced backwards, towards the asteroid field, as shrapnel whizzed around me and I prayed that none of it would pierce my suit. As I hurtled through space, tumbling about like I was caught in a slipstream, I caught a glimpse here and there of a large metal mass waiting behind the empty husk of my shuttle. I'm ashamed to admit that I screamed, but no-one except me will ever know, I guess.

I finally remembered that I had the jump thrusters and hit them big time, first slowing and then completely stopping my wild ride. I looked around me in dismay, feeling fear sweat trickle down my forehead. This was not good. A quick assessment showed me that although my suit was fine, there were a couple of shards of metal embedded in my boots and a graze across my faceplate. I shivered; that had been a close one. I'd thought for sure I was done for.

Although, now that I thought about it, I wasn't sure I WASN'T done for. I had no shuttle, Deathscythe was stowed nicely away on Howard's ship, and I only had a half tank of oxygen. It was also cold, and while the suit was lined, it wasn't doing a particularly good job of keeping me warm. I could already feel my teeth starting to click together. Shudders ran down my spine as I realised exactly how bad my situation was.

Well, the first thing I had to do was stay calm. I breathed slowly and shallowly to conserve air, and let my body go limp, almost at rest. I hoped that I would use less oxygen that way. My mind whirred as I drifted, considering all kind of scenarios from the fantastical to the plain old depressing. One recurring wish I had to keep putting out of my mind, but it still came back when I was feeling low – I wished that one of the others would come and find me, that someone cared enough about me to search for me in the middle of all this blackness. But that dream kept making my eyes prickle hotly so I tried my best to ignore it and come up with a plan that would actually work.

Sometime during my planning I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember is blinking my eyes open to see a giant metal face about two meters away. I yelped and flailed, trying to run away through nothingness, but managed to do nothing more than wiggle on the spot. A sardonic chuckle came over my speakers – whoever it was had managed to crack my frequency.

"Chill, 02," a familiar voice mocked, and I pushed my panic away long enough to get a better look at the suit. It couldn't be…!

"05?" I asked nervously, the cold making my teeth chatter. Another laugh rolled through my speakers.

"Who did you expect?" Relief washed over me. I could have cried. What were the chances? He spoke again.

"Listen, I'm about the pop the hatch and come get you. Don't freak," he instructed, and I snorted. As if I would. He was as good as his word, and within two minutes I was safely stowed in his cockpit and breathing slightly fresher air than what I had been. It was a huge relief to be able to take my helmet off.

Wufei got settled, removing his helmet and giving me a calculating look. "So, was this a plea for attention or did you actually get stuck out here?" I could tell that no matter how I answered he was going to make fun of me, so I sighed.

"Someone destroyed my shuttle," I admitted. Wufei made a face.

"Good thing you weren't on it then."

"I know, but I didn't even see who it was!" I couldn't stop myself whining, which made Wufei laugh again.

"It's a war, Maxwell," he advised me, before engaging the engines and plotting a new course. I sulked, sinking down behind his chair. Then I had a strange thought.

"Hey, Chang?"

"What?"

"How come you're out here, anyway?" There was silence. I waited. Finally he sighed.

"I was looking for you."

I frowned. "But why?"

"Because Yuy needs your help and he's too stubborn to ask you himself." I forced down my laughter – Wufei, calling someone else stubborn! – and tilted my head back to rest against the seat. Well, so much for not running into Heero any time soon. I hoped things wouldn't go pear-shaped but I knew I couldn't count on it; Heero was notorious for doing things the hard way.

Looked like life was about to get interesting all over again.


End file.
